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Terry Hancock hancock at anansispaceworks.com
Sun Jan 29 21:49:21 EST 2006


On Sat, 28 Jan 2006 09:47:20 -0800
Scott David Daniels <scott.daniels at acm.org> wrote:
> Terry Hancock wrote:
> > On Fri, 27 Jan 2006 13:44:19 -0800
> > Scott David Daniels <scott.daniels at acm.org> wrote:
> >> Paragraph 3 in "Why Python":
> >> and later in that paragraph, I'd change:
> >>      ... extensions that provide compact numerical
> >>      solutions
> >> to:
> >>      ... extensions that provide compact high-speed
> >>      numerical solutions
> > 
> > And while we're at it, let's say "Python is a language
> > for programming high-speed, digital, electronic
> > computers. Do you have any experience with high-speed,
> > digital, electronic computers?"
> 
> The reason I included high-speed is that the paragraph is
> responding to its topic sentence:

You just touched my funny bone there. There's nothing wrong
with the edit, really. ;-)

>  > For those who are too young, or weren't film students,
>  > the answer is "Yes, my aunt has one".
> Well, I am definitely not too young, but I was never a
> film student. What movie?

Take the Money and Run (1969)
Directed by Woody Allen

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065063/

Of course, in the original concept, the interviewer is the
straight man asking Allen's character about the "obviously"
esoteric and high-tech field of computers for which someone
like him is "obviously" not qualified.  His statement that
his Aunt has a computer was as incongruous in 1969 as
claiming that she had a Saturn V or a Space Shuttle in her
back yard.

*Today*, the funny one is the interviewer, and Allen's line
that his Aunt has one is perfectly reasonable.  Even a mere
10 years later in 1979, this was true. I always found that
ironic.

-- 
Terry Hancock (hancock at AnansiSpaceworks.com)
Anansi Spaceworks http://www.AnansiSpaceworks.com




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